On October 16, our lobby will become a space of remembrance, reflection, and healing. Together, we will create a communal art project and engage with a special remembrance installation that invites everyone to take part. Throughout the day, live music will help us tend to our hearts. In partnership with Edut 710, we will also share testimonies from those who lived through that day, voices of survival, courage, and resilience, presented on screens so visitors may sit, listen, and bear witness.
Flowers for Carmel: 730 Days Since October 7
Two years have passed since the October 7th attack, a day that shattered countless lives and changed our collective sense of safety, belonging, and compassion. As we continue to mourn those gone and pray for the return of those still held in Gaza, we face an ongoing struggle to find meaning, hope, and strength.
In marking 730 days since that day, the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan presents Flowers for Carmel, a memorial installation by artist Hila Shapira, honoring Carmel Gat, one of those kidnapped on October 7 and later murdered in Gaza.
Carmel grew up in Kibbutz Be’eri, worked as an occupational therapist, and was pursuing her Master’s at the Hebrew University. She loved nature, music, and helping others. Even in captivity, she led yoga and meditation sessions for fellow hostages, helping them find calm and courage amid terror. Her quiet resilience and inner strength have made her a symbol for the call to return all hostages home.
The installation invites visitors to suspend flowers, leaves, and letters, each gesture forming a living memorial that transforms over time. Through this shared act, we honor Carmel’s life and the values she embodied: dignity, compassion, and care for others.
Carmel never sought to be a symbol. Yet through her humanity, she reminds us that compassion, even in darkness, can be an act of strength and a guide for all who carry the memory of October 7 forward.
